Marijuana ad nauseam

Sheryl Massaro

Let’s think about this a minute.

There is a standard pharmaceutical protocol for approving prescribed drugs in this country. Without having made it through this Food and Drug Administration review, the marijuana plant can now be grown, processed and distributed as medicine in Maryland and 22 other states.

This use is an exception that has been made even though the FDA has already approved medicines that are derived from marijuana. Dronabinol and nabilone treat chemotherapy nausea and increase appetite in patients with extreme weight loss, such as AIDS patients. Now, CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient that has shown promise in treating childhood epilepsy, is the basis of a liquid medication, Epidiolex, in clinical trials. Nabiximols, a mouth spray, is in clinical trials for treating cancer pain.

Marijuana (cannabis sativa) is one of the least toxic drugs of abuse, and it brings profound relief unavailable by other means to certain patients. But the frenzy and scope of medical legalization that has gone on across the country, bypassing standard pharmaceutical review, mystifies me.

Last summer, the American Medical Association released findings from a meta-analysis of data from clinical trials conducted from 1948 to 2015. The data support use of the marijuana plant to treat chemotherapy nausea, multiple sclerosis spasms and specific pain syndromes, but data used as the bases for most other indications covered by many state laws appear to be “low-quality scientific evidence, anecdotal reports, individual testimonials, legislative initiatives, and public opinion,” according to a June editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In Maryland, for example, marijuana can be prescribed for treating a “condition that is severe, for which other medical treatments have been ineffective, and if the symptoms ‘reasonably can be expected to be relieved’ by the medical use of Cannabis,” an FAQ from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission states. That seems to cover ... something.

Yes, it is the law in Maryland that 15 medical marijuana cultivators and 94 dispensaries are permitted, but we are not required to have them here. It is an expensive endeavor for a grower just to set up, and the requirements to safeguard the crop are specific, essentially placing growers behind closed doors in industrial parks. Probably not for long, though. Marijuana lobbyists, some Maryland officials and some farmers yearn to grow it in secured fields. Is that an oxymoron?

In a Sept. 28 press release, Maryland officials state, “We’re pleased to reach this important milestone in the development of a new industry that will create jobs, expand the tax base and, most importantly, enable the delivery of safe and effective medicine to patients in need.”

First, marijuana plants haven’t yet made it through a safety review. Second, we’ve heard the jobs and tax base thing before (casinos), and have our schools and roads improved? Growers, processors, distributors and the many for-profit online “universities” offering training for a career in the marijuana industry will make money. Taxpayers? No time soon.

Let’s try not to be naive. If pot’s the only way you can get relief from physical or mental trauma, take it! I’m glad you can now take it legally. I might need it someday. But we should put on some brakes.

For decades, the marijuana lobbies have been every bit as savvy and capitalistic as industrialists and, like it or not, we public have been manipulated as much by them as (supposedly) by the government.